reduce the number of yearly menstrual periods from 13 periods a year to only four periods a year. Therefore, women menstruate only once each season.
How Are Birth Control Pills Packaged?
You will receive a set of pills packaged in a thin case. Pill packs contain either 21 or 28 pills. Twenty-one-day pill packs contain 21 active pills. Twenty-eight-day pill packs contain 21 active pills and seven inactive pills. The pill packs are marked with the days of the week to remind you to take a pill every day. The seven inactive pills in the 28-day pill pack are added so that you are reminded to start a new pill pack after 28 days.
Extended-cycle pills contain 84 active pink tablets and seven inactive white pills.
How Do I Begin Birth Control Pills?
Ask your doctor when you should start birth control pills. If you still have your period on the day that you have been told to start your pill pack, go ahead and start the pill pack. You will get your next period about 25 days after starting the pill pack.
It’s best to take the pills at the same time every day. Take the pill each day either before breakfast or at bedtime.
Extended-cycle pills work similarly. You begin taking it the first Sunday after your period. If your period starts on a Sunday, start the pill that day. Then you take one of the active tablets a day for 84 consecutive days. This is followed by seven days of placebo (inactive) pills.
When Do I Start Another Birth Control Pill Pack?
You will start each new birth control pill pack on the same day of the week that you initially started it. If you are on the 21-day pill pack, start the new pill pack seven days after you finished the old pill pack. If you are on the 28-day pill pack, begin the new pack after taking the last pill in the old pack.
Start your new pill pack as scheduled above, whether or not you get your period or are still having your period.
How Soon Do Birth Control Pills Work?
When taken as directed, birth control pills are usually effective the first month you begin taking them. To be safe, some doctors recommend